Data Source: California Energy Commission.
Note: New light vehicles only and does not include used vehicles and vehicles coming off lease. Cars include subcompact, compact, mid-size, large sedans and sports cars. Light trucks include pickup trucks, mini vans, large vans, and SUVs. ZEVs include battery-electric vehicles, Hydrogen vehicles, and fuelcell electric vehicles.
Analysis by Beacon Economics
Highlight
- The number of electric light-duty pickups, SUVs and vans registered in 2022 hit an all-time high of 171,716, which is up 49.3 percent compared to 2021. Furthermore, zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) accounted for over 16.3 percent of total new registrations in pickups, SUVs, and vans in 2022. There was a notable shift in customer demand within the ZEV market as newer models are introduced to the market, where there has been some movement away from sedans and compact cars and towards pickup trucks and SUVs. This indicates a growing preference for larger, more versatile ZEV options among consumers. The preference for ZEV pickup trucks over ZEV cars became particularly evident in 2022, with ZEV pickup truck registrations surpassing ZEV car registrations by a significant margin of 36 percent. This shift in customer demand has grown since 2019, reflecting the growing popularity and appeal of pickup trucks among consumers. With the arrival of some highly-anticipated electric trucks in 2023 and over the coming years—including the Ford F-150 BEV (released in Spring 2022),90 and lineups from Rivian R1T, R1S pick-up trucks (released in January 2023)91 —electrification of this segment will continue to accelerate as more models come on the market. In summary, electric SUVs generally exhibit lower energy efficiency compared to electric sedans. For example, the Nissan Leaf achieves 111 miles per equivalent gallon (MPE), while a Rivian truck achieves 71 MPE, highlighting a notable difference in efficiency between the two vehicle types.
90 According to Ford’s page: https://www.ford.com/new-hybrids-evs/
91 According to RIVIAN’s page: https://rivian.com/
More About
Transportation
Related Content